Life lessons learnt and shared with my niece, Lottie Mia

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#131 Don’t be afraid to say ‘YAY ME!’

It’s something we’re not always very good at as a culture. Celebrating ourselves when we do something awesome. Some people are, some aren’t. Often, I think, people don’t realise just how awesome they are (this is based on people I know.)

It’s really hard sometimes to be nice to ourselves. We live in a culture heavily influenced by ego – few people want to be seen to have an inflated one, to be seen as perceiving themselves to be more awesome than they actually are. As a result, egos are often deflated to teeny, tiny raisin size, when actually they need feeding healthy stuff from time to time to stop them drying out. I’m not saying I agree or disagree with this, it’s just a fact of where and how we live.

Lottie, I have something exciting to tell you. Every now and again, you WILL do awesome things. Strokes of genius. Moments where you surprise yourself – exceed even your own expectations. Sometimes they’ll be flukey results of character, sometimes they’ll come from days, weeks or even months of hard work. We are all capable of doing marvelous things, no matter how big or small.

We have every right to be proud of those marvelous things, not in an, ‘I’M BETTER THAN YOU’ – ego-boosting, self-important kind of a way. That’s not cool. Nothing you do will ever make you more or less important than any other human being on the planet- hold on to that. And of course, no one wants to be seen as boastful, or ‘full of themselves’. But it’s fine to share and talk about the things you’re proud of, it’s healthy to acknowledge the work that went in to them, speak honestly, speak from your heart about them. Noticing and celebrating the awesome things you do is an act of kindness to yourself. It’s about a confidence, not an arrogance.

So, next time you do something awesome fill those lungs with air to gift yourself a great big: ‘YAY ME!’ – and celebrate the brilliance of you.